The first two Texas Grow Homes in Port Arthur have been completed by Houston-based CDC Covenant Neighborhoods and the new homeowners have moved in, just in time for Thanksgiving. Thanks to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and all the project partners for making this possible. We have launched a web site that [...]
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Tag Archives: Hurricane Rita rebuilding
A confession: we’ve learned firsthand the reasons for disaster rebuilding delays
June 9, 2009
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I have to fess up. Having pointed out in yesterday’s blog the unacceptably slow pace of rebuilding homes destroyed in the Texas hurricanes, it’s only right that I point out the delays that we ourselves have encountered in a disaster housing rebuilding project we are associated with. We call the project Texas Grow Homes. It’s [...]
Read moreIt is time to stop pretending the COG disaster housing rebuilding program is the answer
December 20, 2008
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In Wednesday’s blog entry I reported on the performance of the Councils of Governments (COGs) in carrying out Round 1 of the Texas Hurricane Rita housing repair and rebuilding program. The data in my blog was drawn from a report presented by the staff of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs to their [...]
Read moreExamining claims of local effectiveness in administration of housing disaster funds
December 18, 2008
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There have been a lot of claims voiced by Councils of Governments (COGs), local officials and the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) that there will be greater efficiencies and cost savings in allowing disaster recovery funds to be administered locally by COGs. To test the accuracy of these claims we can examine the [...]
Read morePut an end to FEMA trailers by moving people quickly into permanent housing
December 15, 2008
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She says it far better than I can. We shot this interview with a woman whose home suffered major damage from Hurricane Rita. She describes the type of problems thousands of low income Texas families have encountered trying to get their homes repaired working with FEMA. [BTW - her house is still not repaired today, [...]
Read moreSlow expenditures, questionable priorities plague Houston and Harris County administered hurricane relief efforts
November 13, 2008
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We have been critical of the decisions of the City of Houston and of Harris County so far as their uses of federal CDBG funds intended to assist victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.On top of the inappropriate use of the funds it now seems the city has been extremely slow to put the funds [...]
Read moreLingering concerns about Texas Hurricane Rita home rebuilding
June 25, 2008
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I am supporting the the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs Round 2 plan for CDBG housing assistance for Hurricane Rita victims. The state has decided to oversee the rehabilitation and rebuilding of houses through a private contractor rather than handing checks out to hurricane victims. After seeing first hand the problems low-income families [...]
Read moreFEMA and HUD: not who you would want to depend on to throw you a life preserver
June 4, 2008
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The House Financial Services Committee called HUD and FEMA to testify about when the lead federal agencies for hurricane relief are going to get the 2005 Hurricane survivors out of temporary and into permanent housing. The result: lots of agency mumbling and stammering. Listen to excerpts from the hearing in this NPR story. Also appalling is the failure of [...]
Read moreWe have not learned the lessons of Katrina
May 31, 2008
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In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we wondered what we could do to help. We settled on four things: 1) advocate on the behalf of the housing needs of the Katrina evacuees; 2) work with the State of Texas to try to come up with a good plan to help the victims of hurricane Rita [...]
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Bo McCarver’s housing news clips for May
- Mitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
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Bo’s housing news clips: Study finds zoning segregates lower-income students in lower-scoring schools.
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Texas LIHTC housing program rocked by second earthquake in two months
- Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
